A husband-and-wife team from California reached the Pacific Ocean after a 4,900- mile-cross
-country walk, becoming the first to backpack the American Discovery Trail in one continuous
walk.
Marcia and Ken powers, of Pleasanton, started the travel across 13 states, through 14 national parks and 16 national forests on Feb. 27 from Cape Henlopen in Delaware. Nearly eight months later, the excited couple walked through water into the Pacific Ocean at Point Reyes, a day ahead of time.
“We are a little sad that a great adventure is over. It was a fantastic adventure. And now we go home and just do housework. It's really sad.” Marcia, who said she's in her 50s, and her 60-year-old husband traversed cities, desert, mountains and farmland before reaching the Pacifics alone with arms around each other' s backpacks.
They overcame deep snow in the East, a quicksand in Utah, close lightning strikes in the Mid- west and strong desert sandstorms in the West while averaging 22 miles a day and taking only four days off. But they enjoyed the French history of St. Louis' the beauty of the Colorado Rockies and the kindness of strangers they met along the way. They particularly remember two brothers ---- a
doctor and dentist-------who put them up in their homes, after terrible days, and a motorcyclist who gave them water after they failed to find any on Utah's lonely Wah Wah Desert.
“Americans are truly warm-hearted and wonderful people.” Marcia Powers said. “We got to meet people that we would never meet in our daily living at home. We got to touch it with our feet and hands and smell all its scents and hear its wildlife. It' s an amazing country,” she added.Which of the following about couple's walk is TRUE?
| A．The walk covered more than 13 states. |
| B．The walk lasted about half a year. |
| C．The walk didn't meet any desert. |
| D．The walk might end before October 27. |
The underlined word “traversed” in the third paragraph means “____________.”
| A．enjoy | B．move across, through or over |
| C．overcome | D．look at |
According to the text, we can infer that during the walk the couple __________.
| A．were treated warm-heartedly by the local people |
| B．never stopped to have a rest |
| C．were ever caught in a heavy rain and became ill |
| D．felt the quicksand in Utah was very interesting |
The couple went through many places except ____________.
| A．big rivers | B．desert | C．hills | D．fields |
C
Parties and social gatherings no longer excite us the same way they once did. This is not due to a lack of desire to socialize, but the smartphone.
At parties, more people are on their smartphones than on their drinks. According to a recent International Data Corporation study, well over half of all Americans have a smartphone and reach for it the moment they wake up, keeping it in hand all day. In addition, too much of society is using smartphones while driving and as a result getting into car crashes. 34 percent of teens admit to text while driving, and they confirm that text messaging is their number one driving interruption. People's attachment to their smartphones is unbelievably becoming more important than the lives of themselves and others.
Just as drivers dismiss the importance of focusing while on the road, many people also fail to recognize the significance of human interaction. When with their friends, some people pointlessly check or send text messages in the presence of a friend, which sends a message to that friend the person I am texting is more important than you. In addition, relying on our smartphone to make friends does not give us the same advantage as being able to make new friendships in the real world. Face-to-face conversations will give us much stronger communication skills in the long run.
As many people risk their lives and the lives of people around them just to send a text or mindlessly check their massages, smartphones are in many ways more dangerous to people. The quality of this technology is de-advancing societal achievements and weakening the value of communication. Not only is the smartphone affecting our desire to interact (交流) face-to-face but it is also lowering society's ability to communicate.The purpose of this text is to ______.
| A．call for an end to use the smartphone while driving |
| B．appeal to us to pay attention to communication skills |
| C．express concern about the overuse of the smartphone |
| D．advise us to be cautious about the addiction to the smartphone |
The second paragraph is developed by ______.
| A．giving examples |
| B．listing figures |
| C．comparing facts |
| D．analyzing the effects |
The author advocates us to make new friends ______.
| A．by using smartphones |
| B．in a face-to-face way |
| C．in different ways |
| D．under a free circumstance |
Over dependence on the smartphone leads to the fact that ______.
| A．parties and gatherings limit their social circle |
| B．people are more and more narrow-minded |
| C．people's communication skills are weakened |
| D．face-to-face communication becomes less important |
B
Last year, A Bite of China, made by CCTVs Documentary Channel, sparked discussion not only on Chinese food, but also on locally made documentary programs.
With fascinating footage（影片片段） and stories, documentaries encourage us to think about interesting issues we wouldn’t necessarily know about.
So, what makes a good documentary, and what should we pay attention to when we watch one? Here, we offer a few easy strategies to help you get the most out of watching documentaries.
Pay attention to the themes
While watching a documentary, keep your eyes and ears peeled for the themes people talk about and what ideas they focus on. Is it meant to be informative or raise a certain emotional response?
Think critically
Listen to what the people in the documentary are saying and ask yourself the following questions If you were debating with someone or introducing a new concept, would you say the things the people in the documentary are saying? Do the arguments make sense?
Check the sources
If you’re sitting at the computer and can’t think of anything to do, why not look up the points the documentary made and see if they are accurate? You could even read more about what is presented in the documentary.
Who are the creators?
The creators or financial backers of a film will usually be involved with how the subject matter is presented. For instance, as the documentary 2016 Obama’s America was directed in large part by a conservative writer, it’s not surprising that it’s critical of President Obama from the beginning.Which of the following is the most proper to describe documentaries?
| A．non-fictional | B．controversial |
| C．subjective | D．thoughtful |
The passage is mainly written to ______.
| A．inform us of factors of good documentaries. |
| B．help us enjoy documentaries better. |
| C．introduce ways of making documentaries. |
| D．help us figure out themes of documentaries. |
Why is 2016 Obama’s America mentioned in the article?
| A．Because the author dislikes Obama. |
| B．Because it is directed by a writer. |
| C．Because it is quite popular in China. |
| D．Because it is a persuasive example. |
According to the passage, ______.
| A．it is always difficult to get the themes of documentaries. |
| B．financial backers often appear in documentaries. |
| C．it’s better to think twice about what is in documentaries. |
| D．many points of documentaries are not accurate. |
A
Since I started working part-time at a grocery store, I have learned that a customer is more than someone who buys things. To me, a customer is a person whose memory fails entirely once he or she starts to push a shopping cart. One of the first things customers forget is how to count. There is no other way to explain how so many people get in their express line, which is clearly marked 15 items(件) or less, with 20, 25 or even a cart load of items.
Customers also forget why they came to the store in the first place. Just as I finish ringing up an order, a customer will say, “Oops, I forgot to pick up a fresh loaf of bread. I hope you don’t mind waiting, while I go to get it.”Five minutes later, he’s back with the bread, a bottle of milk, and three rolls of paper towels. What is strange is that customers also seem to forget that they have to pay for their groceries. Instead of writing a check or looking for a credit card while I am ringing up the groceries, a customer will wait until I announce the total. Then, in surprise, she says, “ Oh no, what did I do with my check book?” After 5 minutes of digging through her purse, she borrows my pen because she has forgotten hers. But I have to tolerate customers because they pay my salary, and that’s something I can’t afford to forget.What does the author say about his customers?
| A．They cannot count numbers. |
| B．They sometimes jump the queue. |
| C．They don’t know how to express themselves. |
| D．They behave as if their memories had totally failed. |
According to the text, who are supposed to be in the express line?
| A．Customers with nothing purchased. |
| B．Customers with not more than 15 items. |
| C．Customers with items between 16 and 25 |
| D．customers with 25 or even a cart load of items. |
When customers arrive at the check-out counter, they_______
| A．find their pens lost |
| B．go back and get more items |
| C．cannot wait to pay for their groceries. |
| D．prefer paying by check to paying with a credit card. |
We can infer from the text that ________
| A．business in the grocery store runs well |
| B．the author finds his present job full of fun |
| C．the author’s part-time job calls for patience |
| D．customers go to grocery stores without planning. |
D
It’s hard to be the bearer of bad news，but most of IKEA’s print and digital fascinating shots of picturesque rooms and products are fake．Those beautiful，“natural-looking” photos of gorgeous rooms and kitchens are mostly the work of computer magic，adjusted and corrected until they’re picture-perfect．
Martin Enthed，IT manager for IKEA’s in-house communications agency，revealed，“In 2012，12 per cent of its product and concept images was CGI-rendered，increasing to 25 per cent in 2013．Since then，that percentage of rendered images appearing in the company’s catalogue and online has tripled．75 per cent of the furniture company’s product images today are created by computers．”
It’s a move that first caught the attention of photographers and graphic designers a few years back when the furniture giant announced it would cancel photoshoots in favor of computer-generated imagery(CGI)．
Enthed said IKEA began shifting equipment in 2009 when company officials called in his team and said they weren’t pleased with some previous photos and CG images．
“So we looked at all the images they said weren’t good and the two of three they said were great，and the ones they didn’t like were photography and the good ones were all CG，”Enthed said．“Now we only talk about a good or bad image - not what technique created it．”
It’s a not-so-secret strategy used by top companies specializing in home and furniture design，though many consumers remain oblivious．
The company claims the shift is another way to reduce its environmental footprint，saying constructing digital files produces less waste．It also helps the home furnishing empire’s pocketbooks．
What directly led IKEA to adopt CGI on a larger scale?
| A．The convenience of high technology． |
| B．Company officials’ reaction to works． |
| C．The change in the concept of management |
| D．Development of environmental awareness． |
According to the passage，the advantage of the shift is that IKEA can 。
| A．expand into another field |
| B．increase its financial benefits |
| C．win more support of consumers |
| D．produce more furniture of high quality |
The underlined word “oblivious” in paragraph 6 means “ ”．
| A．unaware | B．calm |
| C．conservative | D．disturbed |
It can be concluded from the passage that ．
| A．IKEA should be punished because of fake photos |
| B．IKEA set a good example as the furniture giant |
| C．IKEA adjusted strategies to answer its need |
| D．IKEA has a pioneering spirit in promotion |
C
A crisis is on the way．Global warming? The world economy? No，the decline of reading．People are just not doing it anymore，especially the young．Who’s responsible? What is responsible? The Internet，of course，and everything that comes with it—Facebook，Twitter，etc..
There’s been a warning about the coming death of literate civilization for a long time．In the 20th century，first it was the movies，then radio，then television that seemed to end the written world．None did．Reading survived；in fact it not only survived，it has developed better．The world is more literate than ever before — there are more and more readers．and more and more books．
The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over．The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing．Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before．Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations，an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links：to texts，pictures，and videos．
On the other hand，there is the danger of trivialization(碎片化)．One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long“digests”of the great novels．War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking．We should fear the fragmentation(碎片)of reading．There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration．
In such a fast-changing world，in which reality seems to be remade each day，we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us．This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear．Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone entirely in pace with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic，confusing world．
In Paragraph 2，we can learn ．
| A．the disappearance of traditional books |
| B．the development of human civilization |
| C．the historical challenges for reading |
| D．the birth of pioneering e-books |
According to the passage，the advantage of e-books is ．
| A．1imited link |
| B．imaginative design |
| C．low cost |
| D．varied contents |
How does the author feel towards single-sentence-long novels?
| A．Doubtful | B．Worried |
| C．Shocked | D．Hopeful |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading． |
| B．Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing． |
| C．Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience． |
| D．Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice． |
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